My husband, D, tested positive for Covid when I was almost 8 months pregnant with our first child. After a few days, I also tested positive, and soon I was admitted to NHRMC, and the next day my baby was born. Neither I nor my husband could be with our son in the NICU. My husband was struggling more to breathe every day. Thankfully, my mother was able to be with our baby in the NICU. She was able to facetime with us so that we could see him, although D frequently declined or was only able to watch for only a few minutes. Soon, D was placed on a ventilator & on ECMO. I could visit him in CVICU. The first few times, I could only look at him through glass doors. Eventually, he was transferred to a regular room where I could hold his hand or brush his hair. I eventually met Hyla, a very bubbly, sweet nurse. She would hug me, pray with me, offer me comfort, encourage me, & simply go above & beyond to take care of D. She would bathe him almost daily if she had the time, make sure his beard was trimmed, take the time to slowly explain what was going on so that I could better understand his care, & really tried to be on top of being prepared in his room.

There were times when D would flatline. Hyla would stay after her shift ended & work night shift to be with him. She wanted to be by his bedside fighting for him since I couldn’t. She would be on standby with atropine constantly watching & waiting to give it to him. It was time to start lifting his sedation. Eventually, he opened his eyes & responded to a command for the first time since being put on the ventilator. Hyla was his nurse that morning. She can recall a sense in the room that something was different. She called me to tell me to rush to the hospital.

As D continued to heal, he came off ECMO. Hyla was still with him as much as she could be. She would come in before her shift at 4 am, and gather a team of 4-5 nurses to use a lift to hoist him out of bed & into a chair for the doctors to make their rounds. As D's medications were being reduced & his body was waking back up, he was having terrible withdrawal symptoms & pain. She would rub his feet & legs to help with the pain. While still on the ventilator & unable to talk, D was having severe withdrawal symptoms from the antidepressant medication. Hyla would chart in his room because he was so worried that something bad was about to happen & knew he couldn’t yell for help.

When it was time to start weaning him from the ventilator, Hyla got us a cap that could go over the trach so that he could communicate with me again. Hyla also scheduled PTs & OTs to come in to start helping him regain some mobility. She also scheduled for a massage therapist to visit a few times a week to help with his pain. Once D was moved to the PCU floor & eventually the rehab hospital, she would come to visit us.

On the first day that D was able to meet our son in person, she joined us outside. She went above & beyond every single day! And without complaining! If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think that I could have made it through this journey. That is why she also recently joined us at our son’s first birthday party. We have become friends with Hyla & will continue to be there for each other. We are thankful for all of the doctors, nurses, & staff at NHRMC. But Hyla is nothing short of amazing & is the true definition of why someone does their job because it's what they are called to do! Hyla was also with my family member through his last breath. I will forever be grateful for Hyla.